The baseball gods delivered what every fan was praying for. For over a decade, people begged for a Dodgers vs. Yankees World Series, and at long last we got it. The two best hitters in the world. The two richest and most popular franchises in MLB. The American League MVP vs. the National League MVP. Shohei Ohtani vs. Aaron Judge. And the matchup did anything but live up to the hype.
On Oct. 30, the Los Angeles Dodgers closed out the World Series against the New York Yankees, securing their second championship in five years. The game was dramatic and easily the best of the series. The Yankees came out on fire and jumped to an early 5-0 lead, looking like they would cruise to Game 6. But then the Yankees started doing Yankee things in the fifth inning, and the lead vanished. The Dodgers took the lead in the seventh after Austin Wells gave Ohtani a free base on catcher’s interference, and Mookie Betts’ fly ball drove in the winning run.
Freddie Freeman, who hit home runs in a record four straight games to open the World Series, was named MVP and deservedly so. As the Dodgers celebrated, it was the stars who weren’t even mentioned for MVP that I couldn’t stop thinking about. The highly anticipated Judge vs. Ohtani matchup never even began. The expectation was for the sluggers to recreate their regular-season home run magic on baseball’s biggest stage. Instead, we saw the two biggest names in baseball wet the bed for most of the series. The lights looked too bright for either of them.
Judge’s postseason struggles are well documented. He’s the best slugger in the league during regular season and turns into a shell of himself during playoffs. Judge’s final playoff splits: .184/.344/.408 (.752 OPS) in 14 games, including three home runs, nine runs batted in and 20 strikeouts on a 31.2% rate (20 in 64 plate appearances). Ohtani wasn’t much better: 2-for-19 in the series, a .133 batting average with two hits and only one home run in five World Series games. Just disgusting baseball from both of them.
The Dodgers won the World Series not because of Shohei’s dominance, but in spite of his ineptitude. The Yankees lost, and even though Judge stunk it up, this is who he is every October. It’s just a shame that when the world finally gets the matchup they prayed for, everybody shows up except the two stars everybody paid to see.
Judge should be ashamed of his performance and what he cost baseball and the Yankees this World Series, and even though Ohtani is now on top of the baseball universe, his name shouldn’t be anywhere near the best player conversation.
